Governments need to address the accountability gap and pursue comprehensive justice in Sudan
Twenty years after the UN Security Council introduced Darfur’s crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sudan’s immunity for crimes continues to burn abusers to commit further serious crimes during current hostilities without fear of prosecution. The ICC’s mission is limited to Darfur and leaves no independent judicial mechanisms to investigate and prosecute the person responsible for serious crimes in the country. UN Member States, the African Union and the European Union need to support the ICC’s work while supporting the comprehensive judicial channels led by Sudanians committed since April 2023. This includes expanding the jurisdiction of the ICC, working towards establishing Sudan’s international judicial mechanisms, and encouraging universal jurisdiction cases.
The ongoing atrocities promoted by the ramp-extensive immunity and Sudan’s accountability gap require a comprehensive justice response 20 years after the UN Security Council introduced the situation in Darfur to International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors, Human Rights Watch said today.
On March 31, 2005, the Security Council adopted resolution 1593, giving the ICC a mandate against humanity, war crimes and genocide committed in Darfur since July 2002. The ICC investigation opened up several cases of dealing with crimes committed in the area between 2003 and 2013. But today, almost two years after the current fighting began in April 2023, ICC’s mission remains limited to Darfur, despite serious abuses taking place throughout Sudan. The African Committee for the Non-Supported Independent International Fact Discovery Mission for Sudan and the Human Rights Order for Sudan is an international and regional mechanism that is mandatory to investigate current violations committed throughout Sudan.
“Fighting parties have re-locked Sudanians in a cycle of indemnity from violence, committed horrific atrocities, leading to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” said Liz Ebenson, International Attorney General of Human Rights Watch. “The government should publicly commit to exploring every path to fill the accountability gap in Sudan, so that today’s crime victims don’t have to wait another 20 years for justice.”
Since the outbreak of battles between the Sudanese Army (SAF) and the Sprint Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, 2023, both war parties have committed war crimes, including the execution of detainees, the mutilation of bodies and other serious violations.
The RSF committed crimes against humanity, including the ethnic cleansing campaign in West Darfur in 2023 and the widespread act of sexual violence in the region of Khartoum, the capital since 2023.
ICC prosecutors have shown in January 2025 that he expects his office to request an arrest warrant based on an investigation into a crime committed in West Darfur since April 2023. The 2005 Security Council introduction restricts the jurisdiction of the courts to Darfur.
In its September and October 2024 reports, the UN fact-finding mission recorded international crimes across the country and called on the Security Council to expand the ICC’s jurisdiction to cover all of Sudan. The government also urged the use of all available international judicial options, including the establishment of Sudan’s internationalized judicial mechanisms and universal jurisdiction prosecution before national courts to complement the work of the ICC. The fact-finding mission has called on Sudan to cooperate with the ICC.
Other countries need to use this anniversary to implement recommendations for their fact-finding missions and make public commitments to cooperate in ensuring a just response to the country, Human Rights Watch said. The government must ensure that at key conferences, such as the European Union’s April 14, 2025, the Council of Foreign Affairs, and the High-Level London Conference on Sudan, the 15th April 2025, and the top level meeting in London, should speak at the highest level. Accountability efforts can center around the voices of Sudan and draw from international experiences in domestic and international engagements, such as Ukraine and Syria.
States must also provide full support for the preservation and documentation of today’s crime evidence to lay the foundation for accountability. This should include support for the UN fact-finding mission and the African Commission for the Joint fact-finding mission of the Human Rights Order for Sudan. The state must ensure that these institutions have the necessary political and financial resources to implement their mission, effective coordination and cooperation between them and the ICC, as well as access to Sudan and their neighboring countries.
The government should also increase financial and technical support for civil society organisations to document human rights abuses and campaigns and develop strategies for justice through Sudanese civil society-led initiatives. This includes urgently filling the gaps created by US government cuts in funding, and condemning the targeting of war political parties of human rights advocates and lawyers because of their role in documenting human rights abuses.
The ruling is pending in the ICC trial of former Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd Al Rahman (Ali Koshheib) on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur in 2003-04 and 2013.
Following the expulsion of Omar al-Bashir as Sudan’s leader in April 2019, the transitional government (power sharing agreement between civilians and military groups) has a window of opportunity to ensure accountability for past rights violations. The transitional government has taken a small step in accountability. However, it failed to prioritize accountability for serious rights abuse, and early legal reforms were cut short after the 2021 military takeover.
The two former Sudanese leaders that Al-Bashir and the ICC wanted have not yet been handed over. Sudanese authorities should immediately surrender those they wanted to do to Al Bashir and the court, Human Rights Watch said.
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ICC countries must ensure that the court has the necessary resources to carry out its work. All UN Member States should urge the Security Council to support the ICC’s mission at Darfur, including enforcing the court’s findings on non-operation in arrests, Human Rights Watch said. The state should also call on the Sudanian government to accept the jurisdiction of the ICC nationwide.
The 20th anniversary of the introduction of the Security Council comes amidst an open challenge to court independence, reminding us of the ICC’s essential role as a court of last resort. On February 6, 2025, US President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order that approved the freeze and ban on assets against ICC officials and other countries who support the court’s work in the investigations opposed by the US, and applied these sanctions to court prosecutor Karim Khan. US sanctions could have a major impact on court work, including the situation in Darfur. The US is not a party to the ICC, but it supports ICC’s work at Darfur.
ICC Member States need to reaffirm their commitment to defending courts, their officials and those who work with them from political interference and pressure. The European Union should urgently impose its blocking laws to mitigate the impact of US sanctions, Human Rights Watch said.
“Twenty years ago, the Darfur introduction showed what the international community can do to support justice as an essential component of international peace and security,” Evenson said. “The government should utilize decades of experience in pursuing creative pathways to justice at the national and international level to follow up on the promises of a 20-year-old.”
